I'm not seeing how Mao has improved her jumps in any way. Her jumps looked more rotated in previous competitions and looked worse at NHK so to speak of an improvement is slighly erroneous in my opinion.

So are you an expert in figure skating technique?

Sano Minoru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoru_Sano) was on Japanese television post-NHK and said that men in general spend 0.7 seconds in the air when they jump and that Mao's air time has now probably increased to 0.6 seconds because she is jumping higher than before. He estimated that she is jumping 1-2 centimeters higher now than in the previous season and that that would make all the difference in the world in terms of landing them well. He also said that Mao is actually rotating more quickly than in previous seasons as well.

He seemed quite confident that Mao's jump has improved and is likely to improve more. And why don't people trust the protocol a bit more?

Sano Minoru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoru_Sano) was on Japanese television post-NHK and said that men in general spend 0.7 seconds in the air when they jump and that Mao's air time has now probably increased to 0.6 seconds because she is jumping higher than before. He estimated that she is jumping 1-2 centimeters higher now than in the previous season and that that would make all the difference in the world in terms of landing them well. He also said that Mao is actually rotating more quickly than in previous seasons as well.

He seemed quite confident that Mao's jump has improved and is likely to improve more. And why don't people trust the protocol a bit more?

I trust my own eyes the most. Mao's jumps looked small and underrotated to me. But since you are mentioning people from Japanese television: People from German television pointed out that lots of Mao's jumps looked underrotated to them.

And to answer your question: No, I'm not an expert in technique. Just a figure skating fan with an opinion.

Mao's jumps are definitely not small. When she does under rotate them it's because she doesn't spin fast enough, not for lack of height. Watching NHK I didn't notice much of a difference in her jumps for better or worse, but she is attacking her programs more than I have seen in years and not giving points away with pops.

To my eyes, Mao's jumps sure look light and effortless with distance and height (maybe not always with the 2nd or 3rd jump in a combo). If I want to know under rotation or not, I look for the protocols.